CoronaVirus Impacts - Our Experience of Sheltering In Place
First and foremost, we hope every one of you is doing good and managing to find some method to the madness of Shelter in Place. These are definitely difficult times and something none of us would have imagined. This beast has confined us to our home, just like the rest of the world. We are not traveling at the moment and are bringing out our experiences sheltering in place as mandated by authorities.
It was a regular working day and I was my client's office for a meeting. We were already preparing for a potential coronavirus outbreak with the clients. We had just completed a "work-from-home" test for the client to handle an effectual facility closure. For those who have read my bio, this is what I do for a living. I am a consultant supporting clients with strategies related to business continuity and emergency management. We heard the news of the Shelter in Place announcement in-between our meetings. It was official now - things were going out of hands and authorities had asked for strict measures. It was initially for a period of 15 days which has now been extended up to May 3rd, 2020.
As we heard the announcement, it was imperative to first have the communication sent out to the employees. I was heading home in another half an hour to be with the family. The roads were busy on the way back as almost everyone heard about it at the same time. I decided to stop at the grocery store on my way back and the panic was already evident. Getting the parking itself was difficult and then there was a competition to grab a cart. I managed to pick some of the immediate necessities amidst the chaos.
So what does a Shelter in Place mean?
Shelter in place is an emergency management term which essentially means that you stay wherever you are at the moment. For instance, if there is a gas explosion or a law-and-order situation outside a workplace, employees would be asked to stay inside. This is what we risk consultants call a Shelter in Place. This one is a bit different though. This was an executive order by the government restricting the movement of residents publically.
The order - put in place by local health officials - asks people to stay indoors to the extent possible and only come out of homes for essential purposes. Authorities differ in what they consider essential from one jurisdiction to another. Broadly it allows you to do all that you need to do. You can get your medicines or groceries, visit a doctor or bank, or get some exercise. Residents need to follow social distancing guidelines to the extent possible when in public. Effectively, we were confined to our homes apart from some limited visits.
What were the first few things that we did?
The first thing was to take inventory of the groceries and supplies that we had. We did not want to hoard as some people were doing. However, with a kid, we wanted to make sure we had enough to go for a few days. We had to prepare to deal with a supply chain disruption. Some of the key areas we looked at were groceries, cleaning supplies, baby's stuff and things like these. We generally have enough to support us for a couple of weeks. We replenished our stock to carry us for a little longer - about a month to be on a safer side.
Next was setting up a home office. I am the one who prefers to work out of office - either client or my employers. It helps maintain a good routine. I work from home once in a while and we had a desk and chair. But this was a long haul and we had to make some adjustments. So we moved the desk and chair to a more appropriate location. Also, we plugged in an extension cord cum multiplug to support two laptops and chargers for the Bluetooth devices.
Last in the list of immediate action items was canceling travel plans. We were scheduled and booked to travel to Chicago at the end of March and then to Niagara in April. We had a tough time reaching the customer service numbers because of the rush. Finally, we were able to talk to the executives and get our tickets cancelled. Airlines were not refunding money but were only providing travel credits. Well, something is better than nothing :)
How is the lock-down going for us?
Lock-down is the common man's word for shelter in place. It is difficult to stay indoors! We did not think initially that it could be as bad but it truly is. We love to travel and explore places, and now we are suddenly restricted to the four walls where all you can explore is the closet. You can, in fact, discover wonderful things you have which you never knew. One can either crib about it or look for a silver lining in the clouds. We are trying to make the most of it in the following ways.
Time to spend with the kiddo - reliving the childhood
For starters, we are spending time together - a lot of it. For good or bad it could not have come at a better time if it had to come. The kiddo is at the right age when he is ready with all his playful pranks and is a complete charm to play with. Having the time to spend with him is helping us relive our childhood in many ways. We would play and prank to start the day and to end the day and during the time in between. Yeah, we do try to squeeze in some work between all of that.
A lot of cooking and eating - experiments in kitchen
Wifey is happy that she sees a lot more of me or at least that is the hope. We do bug her with a lot more of food requests. Given that this is what the primary activity we have now, we do eat a lot. So yeah, the second thing we are engaged with is a lot of cooking and eating. She loves cooking and I do love to experiment once in a while. So we (and that means mostly her) try new stuff and end up experimenting on ourselves. We let the kid be the judge of whether the result is palatable or even edible or not.
Talking to friends - sharing concerns
Another thing that we are doing a lot is networking. While every expert would say that this is important to do from a mental health perspective, it is true too. We believe it definitely helps maintain sanity. For those who have lived a hostel life, it is similar to how all the first year or sophomore year students come close over hazing. It is about uniting against the common enemy of sorts. Well, we all have the same enemy now! A random call to a colleague, friend or relative - just to say hi and to check if everything is good out there is always appreciated.
Movies and TV - how not to be productive sometimes
Then, of course, there are a lot of movies and we are trying to catch on. We now have subscriptions to at least 3 of the streaming services and these are totally a worthy investment given the scenario. We've seen new and old, romcoms and action, sci-fi and documentaries - all over last 3 weeks and I am sure a lot more is yet to come. We definitely do not believe we are the right people to start recommending movies or stuff so we will refrain from doing that :) Also, we are spending more than usual time on the news trying to keep a tab on all that is going around the world.
There is some work to do too!
And then, of course, there is the work - yeah for me the office hasn't stopped but only the location has moved. I end up spending 7-8 hours helping clients responding to the dynamic challenges this thing is posing. And then there are new clients coming with requests for quick suggestions and we are supporting them too. It definitely is challenging to work efficiently at home with the kid seeking the attention and other stuff - on which a responsible husband, especially someone who manages risk for a living, would refrain from commenting. ;)
What about the essentials - grocery shopping?
When we started with the lockdown, we were able to manage enough stock to help us carry through a couple of months. Things we ensured to have our stock ready:
- Grocery - We generally stock groceries for a couple of weeks and we replenished it for a longer duration. We knew that the grocery stores would remain open during the restrictions and authorities will try their best to ensure supply chains are working. We were concerned a bit about the availability of Indian groceries. Authorities would probably be a bit restrictive on international cargo would most probably face some delays. So we stocked up on rice, flour, lentils, and other dry stuff. We also have our freezer stocked up with frozen vegetables and fried bread to support us for some time.
- Baby Products- When you are responsible for a kid, his supplies are an equal priority as the food. We knew we were running low on diapers and hence took stock of the inventory of other items. Also, we wanted to have baby food and formula milk as a back-up. We depended on Amazon for most of this stuff and they were still delivering baby stuff in time. They delivered the orders in time and we were ready from that perspective.
- Supplies - We wanted to have our cleaning supplies, paper towels, a couple of masks and sanitizers. Some of these items were stocked out from most of the grocery stores and hence it was difficult to find these. One of my friends found some of this stuff on eBay and hence we spent some time looking around there.
HuffPost has a nice article on what to stock up for a shelter in place - Grocery Shopping For A Quarantine: What To Buy And How Much
For a more Indian perspective, How to stock an Indian pantry, during a lockdown
We still have to do some grocery trips...
Yes, we do need to visit the grocery store for one major item - milk. Milk is an important food item for the kid and we try to give him fresh milk to the extent possible. We have stocked a few packs of the carton milk which has over a couple of months of validity just in case the supply lines dwindle during the shelter in place. For now, we are using the regular milk bottles until they are available. Though we try to rely on deliveries to the extent possible, we end up doing once a week of grocery store trips.
On these visits, I have my mask on and we have got those plastic gloves that the catering people use. I am careful to not bump into people and maintain social distancing to the extent possible. I also try to go out to the store during odd-hours e.g. early in the morning or right in the middle of working hours to avoid rush. Also, sanitizing hands is the first thing even before getting into the house and then washing hands and groceries is the next thing we ensure.
I am almost losing my sanity and getting obese!
Given we are eating a lot more than we usually do and most of it can be easily classified as junk we are trying to somehow manage on the health aspect. I can say that it would be tough to fit in the office suits if I had to go to the office today! We are trying to manage some exercise - ones we can do at home without disturbing the people downstairs a hell lot. Stairs, planks - that kind of stuff. Also, if we can responsibility do it, we try to take a short walk around our community. This is to give the kiddo and ourselves that opportunity to stretch our legs. We also make it a point to ensure we open our windows and spend enough time in balconies so that we do not end up feeling claustrophobic soon.
Yes, the times are difficult and we are feeling restrained like each one of you. But we are all in this and there is little we can do about it. There is no one to blame for this and there is no solution to it - at least for now. All we can do is to stay indoors and stay healthy and let others stay healthy - and preserve our sanity. So take care of yourself and your family. And if possible, take out some "me" time over a walk or coffee or just looking around out of the patio. This is going to end - probably later than sooner but let us all hang in there and emerge stronger on the other side of these shelter in place restrictions.
More on this - Advice From a Crisis Expert on Surviving a Lockdown
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| Take a walk and clear your head! |
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